The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either weak or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
